Taper Blog Fraternity

Archives

Posts Tagged ‘ Jared Samuel ’

Jared Samuel’s name shows up a good bit around these parts; even at a young age (tonight was almost his 26th birthday) the guy has already established himself as a go-to player for touring and local acts alike. Invisible Familiars gives Samuel a chance to stretch his wings as frontman, and he proves that no matter the setting, he’s able to deliver a compelling performance. In this case, he and his band (which has a rotating cast that includes Rachel Housley on backup vocals) performed in the round at the Manhattan Inn, which is becoming a go-to Greenpoint venue thanks to Hypnocraft taking over as the booking agent. It’s not always easy to give a full-on rock performance on the floor of a restaurant that advertises itself as a piano bar, but Invisible Familiars pulled that off, even with a more stripped-down instrumental lineup.

We’ve also seen Samuel appear several times with The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger, Sean Lennon’s latest vehicle, and Invisible Familiars’ live sound suggests that not all of the Beatlesque flourishes of the former band came from the Lennon side. Samuel’s work shows a ready acquaintance with both the melody and vocal stylings that the world’s most revered rock band pioneered, but that classicism is anchored on the band’s 2015 debut Disturbing Wildlife with a delightfully modern dose of the weird, delivered in the form of keyboard and electronic flourishes. Those pieces weren’t on hand for this show, which required the songs to lean more heavily on their songwriting and melody. Needless to say, Invisible Familiars scored without those accoutrements, especially on “Clever Devil” and “Elaine Serene,” as well as “Digger’s Invitation.” The latter song is likely the source of another favorable comparison Samuel has earned — to Marc Bolan — and this pure rock song swaggers in a manner familiar to any T. Rex fan. There were also a couple of choice covers in this set, including of Henry Mancini’s “Lujon.” Don’t wait until next year to see Invisible Familiars — you can catch them at a Sunday residency at the Ace Hotel in Manhattan all this month.

I recorded this set with Audio Technica 4051 microphones in front of the band, together with a soundboard feed that primarily supplied vocals. There are a few moments where the vocal PA distorted, but for the most part, the sound quality is excellent. Enjoy!

It may be true that not quite all the fans who packed Austin’s Palm Door for the first act of the Northern Spy / Ba Da BingSXSW Showcase knew of the night of incredible experimental and underground music to come. But even if The Ghost of a Saber Tooth Tiger (GOASTT), whose unwieldy name hides its punchline well, were a bit better-known, they came humble, and they came hungry, despite a long day of shows already behind them. The band’s main draw is of course the presence of Sean Ono Lennon, who in this setup proves a capable bandleader next to his longtime girlfriend and bassist, the model Charlotte Kemp Muhl.

I watched GOASTT from soundcheck to completion, and what stuck with me most was how good their new music is. There’s a more Beatlesque rock streak to GOASTT tunes like “Too Deep”, “Xanadu” and “Animals” than there was to some of Lennon’s past work on earlier projects, and that felt right. The man’s a natural at writing and performing in that style, and the GOASTT neither over-relied on it — becoming a Beatles cover band — or shied from the family legacy. Ono Lennon and Kemp Muhl bantered gamely between songs, kidding about her Slash-like outfit (with bonus points for the vintage Slaughter shirt), giving the show a relaxed feel that carried forward for the rest of the night.

Along with the almost all-new originals from their forthcoming album Midnight Sun, the GOASTT added two covers, including Syd Barrett’s “Long Gone” and another from Golden Earring. As a five-piece (joined by Jared Samuel on keys, Tim Kuhl on drums and Robbie Mangano on guitar) the GOASTT is vastly more muscular than they sounded on their 2010 Acoustic Sessions release, and that is partly a reflection of their recent opening stints for the Flaming Lips and Tame Impala. Midnight Sun is on its way on April 29 via Chimera Music (note, this link seems to not be working, but you can also pre-order from Insound or Amazon). Many of these songs will be on it. Don’t miss.

I recorded this set with a soundboard feed from the Palm Door staff, combined with Schoeps MK4V microphones hanging from the optimal position on the floor. The sound quality is quite good, limited only by the rather boomy room. Enjoy!

Note: All of the material on this site is offered with artist permission, free to fans, at our expense. The only thing we ask is that you download the material directly from this site, rather than re-posting the direct links or the files on other sites without our permission. Please respect our request.

DISCLAIMER and LEGAL NOTICE

nyctaper.com is a live music blog that offers a new paradigm of music distribution on the web. The recordings are offered for free on this site as are the music posts, reviews and links to artist sites. All recordings are posted with artist permission or artists with an existing pro-taping policy.

All recordings and original content posted on this site are @nyctaper.com as live recordings pursuant to 17 U.S.C. Section 106, et. seq. Redistribution of nyctaper recordings without consent of nyctaper.com is strictly prohibited.

nyctaper.com hereby waives all copyright claims to any and all recordings posted on this site to THE PERFORMERS ONLY. If any artist posted on this site requests that recordings be removed, those recordings will be removed forthwith.